McGovern is one of the most accomplished pitchers in American Association history. The 29-year-old set the league’s career record for strikeouts by a left-hander in 2018, and delivered numerous clutch performances—both regular season and postseason—during the Goldeyes’ back-to-back championship runs.

Tonight will be McGovern’s second career Opening Night start, but his first in four years with the Goldeyes.

“It’s definitely something that I take seriously,” McGovern said on taking the ball in the season opener. “Being the No. 1 guy out of the gate, it’s something that’s pretty special. I’m always going to feel like the underdog, having never had a chance in affiliated ball. It’s definitely something that represents a little bit of respect that I’ve been trying to gain over the course of all my years that I’ve been playing.”

McGovern enters the season just 63 strikeouts back of Chris Salamida for the Goldeyes’ franchise record. The southpaw has fanned 100-plus batters each of the last five years.

When manager Rick Forney fills out his lineup card tonight, there likely will be a franchise record eight players who have triple-A or Major League experience. That level of depth has McGovern excited about Winnipeg’s prospects.

“This is such a veteran team and veteran lineup,” said McGovern. “I’m glad I don’t have to pitch against them. Our lineup is all double-A or triple-A guys. Then we have rookies throwing in the mid-90s. It’s something special to see. (The pitching staff) has a great defence behind us. This season is going to be really exciting.”

Forney shares similar optimism with his starting pitcher as the Goldeyes can officially put their difficult 2018 season in the rearview mirror.

“I’m really excited,” said Forney. “I’m happy that we scheduled the seven (exhibition) games and we got them all in. We got plenty of at bats for everybody, plenty of audition time. The last thing you want is to put your roster together and have weather problems, and you wind up having to make roster decisions without giving people an honest opportunity. I just feel a little better about the number of at bats that we were able to get heading into the season compared to what we were able to get in the past.”

Meanwhile, Tao and a large contingent of his countrymen return to the AirHogs for a special partnership.

Last year, the AirHogs allotted 13 of their 23 roster spots for members of the Chinese National Team as a means of accelerating their development and preparing them for future international competitions.

As of Wednesday evening, the AirHogs had just nine traditionally-signed American Association players. That means as many as 14 Chinese players could be at the disposal of first-year manager Chris Bando tonight.

EYES ON TORRES

The Goldeyes were able to get an in-game look at left-hander Christian Torres during Tuesday’s spring training finale at Kansas City. Torres was acquired Monday from the Lincoln Saltdogs in exchange for a player to be named later, and retired all four batters to face him in Winnipeg’s 6-4 victory.

“He’s got versatility in his game where he can start or relieve,” Forney said.

“He has the ability to throw more than one inning out of the bullpen. There’s a lot of things that guy can do for you. He’s a strike-thrower, and a young pitcher that’s new to independent baseball. He had a really good run in affiliated ball. I’m not sure why it came to an end, but there’s some arm talent there. We’re just happy to have him be a part of our club.”